It is 5:15 pm and dark outside…dark. When Martijn and I were on vacation last week, we camped the majority of the time. I think I must have been getting 12 hours of sleep each night. Once it was dark and we had ate supper, we would read for an hour or two, maybe play cards or talk, but after a few hours of darkness, my body just longed to succumb to the darkness and close my eyes warm inside my sleeping bag. And then of course in the morning, you want to wait, not just until the sun comes up, but until a bit of warmth sets in as well. It is really hard to motivate to get out of your sleeping bag and the tent when you know a chill awaits outside. Happily though, I think vacation should involve sleeping 12 hours each night. We started each day with hot chocolate to warm our tummies as the warm sun was finding its place higher in the sky. It was a great week—the best vacation week I’ve had in a while. I suppose that could do partly with the company (ok, of course to do with the company), but the beauty of the coast was spectacular too. We could hike in redwood forests and then go out to bluffs over the ocean or down to the beach. It was warm enough in the day to hop around in the waves barefoot and hike in shorts, but cold enough at night to want to wrap covers all around you. We covered a good chunk of coast from the Bay south to Santa Barbara.
Along with the pictures I have posted below of vacation, there are also eventful happenings of the past month. Halloween was fun. We had a gathering at a friend’s house on the edge of Big Meadow. The party at night was fun and for the first time I had a morbid costume (a corpse, hehe), but the next day was even better. We all reconvened for a brunch of delicious coffee cake, homemade bread, scones, quiches, bacon, potatoes, etc. It was fabulous to relax with great food, coffee, and smoothies in the morning. We played around on the edge of the meadow—enjoying a beautiful day and surroundings—until mid afternoon. We played games, hula hooped, and laughed at each other while we tried to see who could balance longest on the yoga ball. It was super chill and relaxing.
The pictures below that are of the weekend before. I returned to Springville this year for the Apple Festival (ummm…no pics of that part). I competed in their 5 k (got 3rd place, woopwoop), but then took off for Joshua Tree. This was my first venture to Southern California desert, and it was great music that motivated me to make the trip. The Joshua Tree Roots Music Festival was happening. I enjoyed fun bands like Hot Buttered Rum, Trespassers, Martha Scanlan, Jake the ukulele master, and the Avett Brothers. When I pulled in Saturday night though, I pulled in in the midst of a wind/sand storm. I wouldn’t have appreciated the craziness of this until I experienced it. People were wearing sunglasses and ski goggles after dark to prevent the super mean sand from going into their eyes. Tents were blasted with sand and blown away to be donated to the desert. In a way, I was fortunate to get there when I did and didn’t have my tent set up. Even more amazing though than the sand woahness, was that the bands were still playing. I walked up to join friends (only 2 were out still and had not retreated back shield themselves in their tent or vehicle) and found that South Austin Jug Band—being totally pelted with sand—was on stage. It must have been horrendous for their instruments and I definitely would not want to open my mouth to sing, but they did it. Wow. The Greencards followed them and wow again. The crew ended that set a bit early due to the high winds the lights blowing around. After my summer events, I also appreciated the safety announcements and was very observant of where I stood and what could potentially fall—I did not stand near the swinging lights, hehe, or the speakers. The storm settled down a bit for Hot Buttered Rum and by the next morning the sand was back on the ground. It was nice to be able to dance and relax without the fear of being blinded. So the weather made it intense for a night, but Sunday was gorgeous and dancing to the Avett Brothers made the drive to J Tree totally worth it. We stayed in the park that night and then Alison took me climbing the next day. It was my first flirtation with rock climbing. Funny that it turned out to not be in Yosemite, but I think that shows my motivation to cling to rock. I am sure I will try it again at some point, but I don’t think it will become my passion for living anytime soon.
Yeah, so that’s the last month in a nut shell. I only have one week until Thanksgiving break (one week vacay, one week work, one week vacay, hehe). I am going to go up to Seattle again this year to stay at Fruitty and Kev’s place and reunite with Emilee from this past summer. It will be fun to be in the city with friends, hang out at all the coffee shops, and maybe even take a retreat to islands, the coast, or mountains—nice options, how do you decide?. I am without Martijn for a month as he travels in New Zealand, but I’ll get to hang with him before I fly out for Christmastime in Indiana. For all interested parties, I’ll be arriving into Indiana on December 18th (late—sorry Julie) and leaving early on the 31st (once again—sorry Julie—maybe you want to pawn my airport trips off to a different family member, hehe). So I work as much the rest of the year as I have vacation (sweet!). Bring on the Holiday Season! …and hopefully lots of Christmas lights to make me excited that it is dark at 5 pm.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment